TI pushing to get DLP in your cellphone, local cinema
It's not terribly uncommon to see a manufacturer try to push a product (or platform) into every crevice of your life, and it seems that Texas Instruments is diverting quite sharply from its calculatorish ways of old and making an aggressive push to get that DLP logo slapped on everything you own. While we've seen (literally) the diminutive Microvision display do its thang here at CES, TI is hoping to steal that thunder away by talking up its forthcoming palm-sized DLP projectors. The "fully featured" Pocket Projectors, which are co-developed by OMAP, would weigh "less than one pound," use the .55 DLP chip, and could purportedly connect to handsets or PDAs to beam up that big(ger) screen imagery for a crowd to see. Unfortunately for TI, these devices are not (at least initially) supposed to be integrated units, which could easily get overlooked if those built-in alternatives can muster acceptable quality. Additionally, TI is hoping to get that DLP logo stamped on your brain even when you visit the cinema, as the company now has its technology in 3,000 theaters worldwide and is frequently throwing logo-clad splash screens onto the canvas during pre-show advertisements. So if you wonder why you're strangely drawn to the DLP sets during your next HDTV shopping trip, trust us, it's not the mirrors, it's the marketing.[Via AboutProjectors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
srinivas @ Jan 10th 2007 6:51PM
OMAP is a wireless solutions platform developed by TI. It is not a different company.
http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbugencontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=11988&contentId=4638
GhostDoggy @ Jan 10th 2007 7:49PM
Texas Instruments needs to wholesale DLP technology even more if they are to handle the flat panel onslaught in the consumer marketplace. With people being able to buy 60" plasma for under three grand, the casual life is all but gone.
Unless they push real hard into the home theater market and make it cheap enough for Joe Consumer, the rear-projection market is going down like a Titanic going out of business sale compared to flat panel sales this year and next.
Ken @ Jan 11th 2007 1:08AM
I must be the only one who doesn't like DLP (at least most consumer products, low/mid-end stuff).
Rainbows turned me off big time (still see them, even of the newest stuff), the picture just doesn't seem that good (I like the LCOS stuff better), and TI seems to be acting like Apple (very arrogant about it).
Phil @ Jan 15th 2007 1:10PM
I used to sell TV's for years and this is what I believe; the performance of most TVs is so close that most consumers cannot tell the difference, the only thing that sets most TV's apart is marketing. When it comes to marketing, most Americans seem to be smitten by anything with the Sony label. I've had these types of consumers buy Sony sets even when they could not take there eyes off of the DLP TV's.
Another thing I've also found amusing is that most so called professional reviewers exagerate extremely slight differences between sets just so they can "delcare" a winner when in reality, you either can't see the difference, or you'll never remember the difference when the TV is in your living room. The only time most consuemrs can emember a diffence is if they are comparing the absolute bottom of the HDTV market with the top of it and realistically, that's not even a fair comparison (gee, my Jet airplane is so much faster than your ultralight aircraft!).
Although it is true I own a DLP TV, it's primarily because I usually shop in the upper middle market, so I prefer the DLP TV's because they generally have smother edges and better blacks at the mid to upper middle price point, but that's just my preference yours may be different.
Regarding the folks who claim they can see "rainbows" in the old DLP TV's; based on my experience, I think that is hogwash. I've had these folks in the store claiming they could see the Rainbows, but when I tried to get them to point them out, not even one could successfully see it; there response was always well I've seen it, but I just can't see it today or I just can't see it with what's on now. I've always chalked this up to psychology; if someone tells you they see something some folks are inclined to see what they've been told to see. The old adage, if you look hard enough for something, sometimes you can convince yourself it's there seems to be true.
When I was selling sets, I always ended the sale with the statement, if you can't see a difference between Brand X and Brand Y then from your perspective there is no difference, buy the one you are comfortable with.